If it's Thursday it must be Australia...

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[Updated October 2012] … or Indonesia, Malaysia or India… by the time this blog originally appeared I was on my five-week trek around all these countries, giving talks to many veg groups along the way, and then on to Africa and the Middle East. This is roughly what happened:

1 – to Jakarta, Indonesia, for the 39th IVU World Veg Congress (www.wvc2010.org) – opening ceremony on October 1 (World Vegetarian Day) then four days of talks, workshops and other activities. I gave a keynote speech and another talk along with many great speakers. Attendance was around 5,000 including the food fair. [right: The critically endangered Sumatran Orangutan, edemic to Indonesia.]

NOTE: nothing below here was funded by IVU! Whilst IVU was, for the first time ever, covering my expenses to go to the World Congress, everything below is at my own expense - with very much appreciated accommodation from friends. And in case anyone thinks IVU must be paying me megabucks, I am actually paid for one and a half days per week, the rest is done in my own time and with my own rather limited finances.

2 – to Bali, Indonesia, Oct 7-11 – I was grateful to the Bali branch of the Indonesian VegSoc for sponsoring me on this visit (www.ivs-online.org).We stayed for few days with a Veg Seminar and cultural evening at the Bali Arts Center. I was one of three speakers for the seminar. [left: some Bali wildlife – the spider was the size of my hand….]

3 – to Tumbi Umbi, north of Sydney, Australia, Oct 12-15 for a few days with some long lost cousins [right: The iconic Koala]

4 –to Sydney , Oct 15 to 18, for a weekend with Mark Berriman, President of the Australian Vegetarian Society (www.veg-soc.org), and to speak at a joint meeting with the New South Wales Vegan Society (www.vegansocietynsw.com)

5 - to Canberra, Australian capital, Oct 18-21, to finally meet my long-time history colleague Edgar Crook, author of ‘Vegetarianism in Australia – History’ (www.ivu.org/history/australia), and to give a joint talk with Edgar at the Canberra VegSoc (www.vegetariansociety.org.au). I also got a brief chance to keep up with my wildlife photography at a nearby nature reserve – real wild kangaroos…

6 – back via Sydney up to the Gold Coast near Brisbane , Oct 22-25, for a weekend with lots more long lost cousins.

7 – to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to stay with Mohana Gill (fruitastic.net/home.html), Oct 25-28, author of some impressive veg cookbooks, her latest two being for children, and to meet more members of the Malaysian VegSoc, giving a talk at the loca Loving Hut restaurant.

8 –to Bangalore, India, with Mohana, for the IVU ISWAVeg Congress (= India & South West Asia - www.vegansociety.in/ivu-iswaveg_congress) where I was also a keynote speaker. From Oct 29 to Nov 2 – including World Vegan Day, Nov 1, as it was organized by the amazing Shankar Narayan, IVU Regional Coordinator, and President of the Indian Vegan Society (paid nothing, not even expenses). My thanks to the manager of the all-veg e-inn hotel www.e-inn.in for a half-price room during the congress. Right a heron in a local park.

9 – go home… on November 4 to see if Hazel still remembered who I was (she was visiting her cousins in Spain while I was off on all this). A committee meeting for the Vegetarian Society UK (www.vegsoc.org) - I had recently been co-opted - but soon off again…

10 – to Nairobi, Kenya, (via a brief stopover in Dubai) November 30 to December 5, to help in promoting the first ever East and Central Africa Veg Congress (www.ivu.org/africa/nairobi), run mainly thanks to the huge effort by Emmanuel Eyoh the IVU Regional Co-ordinator for Africa (in Nigeria, also paid nothing, not even expenses).

My first ever visit to Africa - in fact after 102 years, the first ever official IVU visit to Africa (other than those who live there of course!) I managed to get out for half a day for more photography at the nearby wildlife reserve. [right: my photo of a corner of the Nairobi National Park, close to the city.]

11 – back to Dubai (UAE), December 5 to 8 – a few days, and another talk, at the veg congress in MENOPE (Middle East Natural and Organic Products Expo - www.naturalproductme.com). A great new area for IVU thanks to the tireless work of Sandhya Prakash (also paid nothing) and MeVeg (Middle East VegGroup - www.meveg.info)